Sliding door hanger



July 22, 1958 5. J. HANNON 2,843,872

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IN V EN TOR. J'TIPIIEN l Ila/Wm MMIMVM United States Patent M SLIDING DOOR HANGER Stephen J. Harmon, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to McKinney Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 11, 1956, Serial No. 584,298

1 Claim. (Cl. 16-105) This invention relates to the hangers by which sliding doors are suspended from overhead tracks, and more particularly to adjustable hangers.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a sliding door hanger which includes a supporting roller that can be adjusted vertically and transversely relative to the door supported by the hanger.

In accordance with this invention, a bracket, formed for fastening to the upper part of a sliding door, has a horizontal portion for engaging the top of the door. Seated on this horizontal portion is an upper bracket, and the two brackets are fastened together in such a manner that the upper bracket can be adjusted forward and backward relative to the door. The upper bracket has an upright portion provided with a vertical slot and engaged in front by a vertical plate provided with a threaded hole in front of the slot. Extending forward through the slot and hole is a headed screw, and a retaining member is mounted on the screw between its head and the upper bracket. The adjoining surfaces of the retaining member and the upper bracket are provided with engaging teeth to lock the vertical plate against the bracket at different levels. Rotatably mounted on the front of the vertical plate is a vertical roller which supports the brackets and door from a horizontal track. The two adjustments just described permit the door to be raised and lowered and to be moved forward and backward relative to the track.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of the vertical edges of a pair of parallel sliding doors supported by my hangers from overhead tracks;

Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the hangers;

Fig. 3 is a rear view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a plan view; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line V--V of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the lower part of each hanger is an inverted L-shaped bracket 1, which extends across the top of a door 2 and a short way down its rear surface. The vertical portion of the bracket is attached to the door by screws 3. Another L-shaped bracket 4 is seated on top of the lower bracket and has an upright portion near the back of the door. The horizontal base of the upper bracket is provided with a slot 7 that extends forward from its upright portion. Below this slot, the horizontal portion of the lower bracket likewise is provided with a slot 6, which has upwardly converging sides and which contains the tapered head of a screw 8 that extends up through both slots. Threaded on the upper end of this screw is a nut 9 that overlies the upper edges of the upper slot. The nut also extends down into the upper slot and is provided with v 2,843,872 Patented July 22, 1958 desired position, and then the screw is tightened again to lock the brackets together. To help hold the upper bracket in any desired position on the lower one, their engaging surfaces may be provided with interengaging teeth 11 and 12 extending across them.

The upright part of the upper bracket is provided with a vertical slot 13, through which a headed screw 14 extends forward. The front end of this screw is threaded in a hole in the lower part of a vertical plate 16 that engages the front of the bracket. To keep the plate from turning, its side edges are bent backward across the opposite edges of the bracket, which they slidably engage. The central upper part of the plate may be offset forward to provide room for the upset rear end of a stud 17 that extends forward from the plate. Rotatably mounted on this stud is a roller 18, which is supported in the usual horizontal track 19 fastened to the top of the door frame 20.

The elevation of the door is determined by the vertical position of the brackets relative to vertical plate 16. This can be changed by loosening screw 14- and then tightening it again in a new position in slot 13. To prevent the upper bracket from slipping down on the plate when the screw is not tight enough, a retaining member 22 is mounted between the head of the screw and the back of the bracket. This member, which preferably is a thin rectangular plate has its front surface provided with horizontal teeth 23 (Fig. 5) that engage similar teeth 24 on the rear surface of the upper bracket. These interengaging teeth prevent slippage between the vertical plate and the upper bracket. By bowing the central portion of the retaining plate away from the bracket slightly, the resiliency of the retaining plate will cause it to press tightly against the head of the screw and thus serve as a lock washer.

The position of the lower bracket relative to the upper one is determined by the thickness of the two doors, because the tracks are a standard distance apart, and it is desirable to maintain the doors a standard distance apart when one slides across the other. The spacing between the doors is generally five-sixteenths of an inch. Although all of the adjustment could be made in the hangers on one door, it generally is advisable to adjust the hangers on both doors so that the central vertical plane of each door will remain as near as possible to the central vertical plane of the roller directly above it in order to reduce the tendency of the doors to swing forward or backward. Since this tendency usually cannot be eliminated entirely, guides along the floor help to keep the doors from swinging away from vertical.

The engaging horizontal portions of the two brackets of each hanger may be provided at their side edges with reference marks, as shown in Fig. 1, to allow the proper adjustments to be made in accordance with instructions that can be furnished with the hangers, and which Will state the proper setting of the brackets for doors of different thicknesses.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it under stood that, within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

A sliding door hanger comprising a lower bracket adapted to be fastened to the upper part of a door and having a horizontal portion for engaging the top of the door, said bracket having a vertical portion extending downward from the rear side of its horizontal portion and provided with fastener-receiving openings for attaching the bracket to the back of the door, an upper bracket 3 having a horizontal base seated on the horizontal portion of the lower bracket and provided with a slot extended forward from its rear side, a screw extending up through the horizontal portion of the lower bracket and through said base slot, a nut on the upper end of the screw in said slot having flat sides substantially engaging opposite sides of the slot, the nut extending above said base and having laterally projecting portions overlying it to hold the upper bracket tightly against the lower bracket when the screw is tightened, the engaging horizontal surfaces of the two brackets being provided with interengaging teeth, the upper bracket having an upright portion at the rear end of said slot provided with a vertical slot, a vertical plate engaging the front of said upright portion and provided with a threaded hole in front of said slot, a headed screw extending forward through the slot and into said hole, a retaining member mounted on the screw between its head and the upper bracket, the adjoining surfaces of the retaining member and the upper bracket being provided with interengaging teeth to lock said vertical plate against the upper bracket at different levels, and a vertical roller in front of the vertical plate and rotatably mounted thereon for supporting the brackets from a track.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 442,950 Bullard Dec. 16, 1890 1,016,798 Thomson et al. Feb. 6, 1912 1,328,442 McBride Jan. 20, 1920 2,066,994 Moore Jan. 5, 1937 2,297,957 Hannernan Oct. 6, 1942 2,710,422 Nelson June 14, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 164,750 Australia May 3, 1954 

